“God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living… For righteousness is undying.”
Verse 15 (For righteousness is undying) closes this first part of the Book of Wisdom with an expression called, by some, the essence of the entire book. As God is undying, so God’s order for the universe is undying. To follow this order in personal living is to open oneself to the Holy Spirit, and live in righteousness.
What follows, in what the Church leaves out for us, is a lengthy description of the problem of evil in the human heart. Verse 16 says: “It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death [remember: God did not make death], considered it a friend, and pined for it, and made a covenant with it, Because they deserve to be allied with it.”
This verse states strongly the basis of human evil — individual choice. The relationship with evil is direct and personal, involving deeds (the word our verse uses is “hands”) and words; it deepens into friendship and even lust (they “pined” for evil), and then into long-lasting commitment (they made a “covenant” with evil).
The wicked deserve to be …read more
Source:: Fr. Frank Jindra’s Homily Podcasts
